I answered an advert to a pub company that said they had a

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I answered an advert to a pub company that said they had a pub that was taking over 8.5k a week and I would get 20% of this after VAT was taken off. I would be self employed and would be responsible for paying any staff I hired. I got the pub and they took a 4k deposit from me. the pub after 2 weeks has taken £124 in the first week and £240 in the second week. which means I and my partner are making no money. I signed a contract saying that I would give one months notice but I cant stay for a month. can I get out of this as the company advertised an 8.5k pub and its far from being that

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Customer:replied 2 years ago.

I think they will attempt to keep some of my 4k as I have given them one weeks notice

Hello, my name is***** am a qualified lawyer and it is my pleasure to assist you with your question today. What did they base their figures on? Can they justify these claims with any evidence if challenged?

So technically they can back up the figures they have provided? Just to let you know I am mobile today and may not be able to respond immediately but you will get my full response this afternoon, thanks

Hello again, you say that the details they have provided you with were not accurate but it is important to consider he following - they gave you figures based on past performance, from what I understand they can justify these by providing you with evidence of takings, etc? Your complain is that since taking on the pub you have had nowhere near the same level of business. However, that does not mean that the information they provided you with is inaccurate - it means that it has not matched previous performance but that does not make it inaccurate. So based on what I have said, is my assessment correct? Did they supply you with figures of past performance which they can back up?

ok so here is the issue - you were provided with certain figures on which you based your decision to purchase. These figures may indeed be accurate and be based on past performance. Just because these figures had occurred in the past is no guarantee that they will occur again in the future. You are not guaranteed a specific level of income - whenever a business changes hands you often have to start from scratch, for example in a pub people may decide against visiting if they know there has been a change of management, there could be other all sorts of other factors that could affect the state of the business. So the key is whether they had provided misleading or inaccurate information, based on which you decided to take on the business. That is really the only grounds on which you will be able to challenge them. You will have to show that they had misrepresented the state of the business and that you had been induced into getting involved in the business based on inaccurate or misleading data. If you cannot show that, then you will be expected to adhere to the terms of the contract, meaning you would have to serve a month's notice. If you do not, then they could potentially use all or part of the deposit to cover themselves for any losses or costs incurred by your breach in leaving early. No one can force you to continue working there for nothing, but at the same time if you were to leave and breach your contract by not serving the notice period required, they can offset any losses with your deposit. So the key here is to try and show that they had misrepresented the figures to start with and that is the best way of challenging this situation and arguing that they had been the one in breach, not you.

Ok this is described as a finder’s fee. It does not state they can withhold that in the event that you leave in breach of contract by not serving your notice period so they should not hold it for that specific reason. You can still rely on the misrepresentation argument I mentioned earlier as to why you are leaving early. In the event that they withhold your deposit then you can take steps to pursue that in the small claims court. The key here is whether they had the contractual right to withhold it n these circumstances and the answer would be no. This is your basic legal position. I have more detailed advice for you in terms of the steps you need to follow to pursue this if it is withheld, which I wish to discuss so please take a second to leave a positive rating for the service so far (by selecting 3, 4 or 5 stars) and I can continue with that and answer any further questions you may have. Don’t worry, leaving a rating will not close the question and we can continue this discussion. Thank you

Yes if you have factors which would affect the business, such as a kitchen unfit for purpose then you may indeed use this in your arguments. Also even if a security deposit it must only be retained for the specific purposes for which it was kept so you must check these carefully. If they do retain it then you an treat it as a type of debt. Whenever a dispute arises over money owed by one party to another, the debtor can be pursued through the civil courts for recovery of the debt. As legal action should always be seen as a last resort, there are certain actions that should be taken initially to try and resolve this matter informally and without having to involve the courts. It is recommended that the process follows these steps: 1. Reminder letter &ndash; if no reminders have been sent yet, one should be sent first to allow the debtor to voluntarily pay what is due. 2. Letter before action &ndash; if informal reminders have been sent but these have been ignored, the debtor must be sent a formal letter asking them to repay the debt, or at least make arrangements for its repayment, within a specified period of time. A reasonable period to demand a response by would be 10 days. They should be advised that if they fail to do contact you in order to resolve this matter, formal legal proceedings will be commenced to recover the debt. This letter serves as a &lsquo;final warning’ and gives the other side the opportunity to resolve this matter without the need for legal action. 3. If they fail to pay or at least make contact to try and resolve this, formal legal proceedings can be initiated. A claim can be commenced online by going to www.moneyclaim.gov.uk. Once the claim form is completed it will be sent to the debtor and they will have a limited time to defend it. If they are aware legal proceedings have commenced it could also prompt them to reconsider their position and perhaps force them to contact you to try and resolve this. Whatever correspondence is sent, it is always advisable to keep copies and use recorded delivery so that there is proof of delivery and a paper trail. The court may need to refer to these if it gets that far.

as it is only stated on the contract in 2.26 that it will be held as a finders fee if the company decide to pull out of the pub and this is the only place in the contract that this is mentioned is this all that the £4000 can be used for

I feel I should pay you more for all your help, how can I do this?Can you tell me, as the £4000 was only mention in 2.26 on the contract and only mentioned as a deposit elsewhere where do I stand if the company say they are keeping it if I don't fulfil my notice period

Thank you for the kind offer - there should be a bonus option, maybe if you try to rate again or on the page somewhere... Now, the issue with the money is that even if there was no other mention of this amount elsewhere, there is nothing stopping them from keeping the deposit. That is even if they did not have the right to keep it. That means you will have to pursue them for it and ask a court to confirm that this was the case and that they should return it. So even if you are right in the end, that does not mean they cannot keep it in the first place and force you to pursue them for it

Sadly we are not allowed to recruit client through this site as it is against the rules so whilst you are more than welcome to come back here for future assistance, I cannot work with you outside of here. I am sorry

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